Work harder. Work faster. Work smarter. All those words wrap up into one thing — working efficiently. The less you have to work at something, the more time you have on others, and that’s the whole point of the Internet of Things.

The IoT is designed to help automatise different aspects of a job or a task and give that information to you in real time. It can be as simple as “how cold is this ice cream” or as complex as computing how much inventory ice cream is left, how fast the ice cream is being sold, how much time is expected of having that ice cream left, and then sending out a truck which will take just enough time to get there so that you’re restocked with your raspberry fruity twist ice cream, fresh and from the freezer just in time.

How this works is entirely specific to the industry though and can help in a number of ways. For instance, if your company is exceptionally labour intensive then perhaps you’d do best in using the IoT to determine your own most efficient employees that get the most products out with the fewest mistakes. A sensor in a conveyor belt determines how many products are sent out, and a sensor at whatever quality checking station you might have would help to determine their overall quality assurance.

Without this sort of system, you’re stuck with plain numbers written up by Bob, Joe, or Sue which they themselves got from the floor manager that happened to catch James over there slacking off. It’s inefficient and frankly far from a perfect system. But if you can look up at your computer screen in real time and see who’s sending out 50 boxes a minute compared to this guy doing only 4, then look back at previous records to see he’s been having poor numbers all week, then not only do you have a system that works, but you have a system that isn’t biased and is instantaneous.

If you’re using a system that focuses more on machinery, the IoT can help with that as well! Whether it be setting up delivery times to be spot on with when the trucks are coming out and also speeding up or slowing down machine output speeds to correlate with rushed shipping, you can easily do it all with just a few clicks of a button. See your inventory, see your production, see your trucks pulling up, getting stocked, and being away in mere minutes. You can even have text alerts set up should a problem arise with one of your machines.

No matter what industry you work in, it’s almost a guarantee that it can be made more efficient with the help of the IoT. Now’s the time to invest and reap the benefits for years to come.

One of the places where the Internet of Things can have the biggest impact is in our city infrastructure. Not only will it help to decrease spending in the long term, but it’ll also help to make our systems more efficient and less prone to error.

In my own town this past month, I’ve been plagued with horrible storms including tornadoes and flooding. Damage has been done that not only lost individual people and government employees vast amounts of money but also lives. I wondered what we might have been able to do to prevent some of these losses.

First, you have to understand the problem. Without a large amount of soil to help collect excess water, we have to use pipes to collect and transport the water to rivers. Simple right? Unfortunately, not. This dirty water has a higher temperature than river water which will affect the ecosystem of and around the river. Also, a dramatic increase in water being pushed to the river could cause flooding itself, simply moving the problem from one place to another. So what can we do?

Moisture sensors are a part of that answer. By putting moisture sensors in the soil, you start up a system to divert that rainwater to different areas at different times in the exact quantities you need. The system will be very flexible, giving you control over what areas need more or less water and when to shut it off.

Of course, in intense flooding like I’d had, water would still end up being diverted to the rivers as our last resort, meaning we would hurt our ecosystem, right? Not if we do things right.

Turbidity sensors (sensors which measure how dirty water is) can be used to help with this. When plugged into a simple filtering system, you have a quick and easy way to control your flood waters without over-watering soil and plants or hurting our ecosystem.

One of the best things about a system like this is that it’s really not very expensive. We’re not trying to filter for drinking water nor do we need any intricate system. It could easily be scaled up or down based on the size of your city, urban or rural areas, or any number of factors. It’s flexible, fast, cheap, and efficient, and most importantly — it’ll help save lives, money, and our environment.

As we all know, food scares have always been a major problem. Every other week, there’s some contamination or another and they just seem to be a problem no one can really get a handle on. Well, Chick-fil-a has decided to try and conquer one major area of that problem — refrigeration. And they’re doing it all with the help of the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors provided by a company called “Monnit”.

Chick-fil-a has decided to implement temperature sensors into their walk-in coolers and freezers. Two dozen chains in Georgia are going to be outfitted with these sensors and gateways, provided by Monnit, to track the temperature of the units. Previously, store managers were required to check the temperatures themselves every 3-4 hours, but that does little for times after closing or holidays, and a malfunctioning freezer over night could lead to upwards of £15,000 being wasted right there.

Working together with Monnit, Chick-fil-a will be installing about 20 sensors, which will monitor and relay that information to the gateway every hour and then back to Monnit’s cloud service. If a temperature falls between a certain point, a text will be sent to the store manager who can then go check the problem and handle it accordingly. In an industry where fresh food is quite literally the lifeblood of the company, even a few hours can make the difference between saving the chicken or serving up a salmonella-filled scandal.

Not only does this help subvert scandals, it also helps prove the steps you’ve gone through to ensure proper care is met with insurance companies. After all, it’s pretty easy to show evidence when you’ve got temperature readings every hour on the hour provided.

Monnit, by the way, doesn’t just work with chicken-enthusiasts. Popular ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s also uses their services in the same way to ensure their ice cream is always frozen. Even the Center for Disease Control uses Monnit to host sensitive information and temperature settings in their labs on its servers.

All this really shows you just how diverse the IoT is. Even when talking about a specific product or service, like temperature sensors, you can see the different ways they can be used from storing frozen foods to keeping lab equipment at the proper temperatures..

Recently, I wrote about the multitude of sensors out there which you could use to connect different projects. Today, let’s look at a single project and what kind of sensors you’d likely want to include in it. What project, you ask? Well, none other than your very own smart home!

To start off, let’s look at the outside and work our way in. First off, for security purposes, or even just for ease, you’d probably want an optical sensor connected to your doorbell. Ding-dong. Now you can see who’s at the door from your phone, computer,
TV, or wherever you might have it connected to.

To further your comfort, we move on to the next sensor — door and window sensors. These too can be used for security, alerting you when a door or window opens or closes, or they could even connect seamlessly to the same device as the doorbell did so you can easily open the door for whoever might be there. Should you include humidity or moisture sensors, they could also automatically close if it starts raining.

If you’re going to have automatic doors, may as well make the garage door the same, right? Connect it up and you’ll never have to wonder if you left the door open.

Next, let’s move inside and talk about your new smart thermostat. This would pair amazingly well with the doors and windows as, if it’s hot inside to a certain degree, you could have those windows open automatically, have the thermostat change on its own, or manually change it from your phone.

I think you’re starting to see just how connected your home really becomes, right? Well, we’re not done yet.

These next sensors you’ll want are for protection not of crime, but of disasters. Fire/Co2 and Leak sensors are a must. These don’t just help protect you, but a lot of the time, they’ll also help you save money! Insurance companies often give discounts to people who go the extra step in protecting their homes. It’s a win-win.

Lastly, you need a hub if you’re going to have all these sensors, right? One quick and easy place to access your sensors and control them. Luckily, there’s a smart home hub and intercom system on the market just for that. Not only do you have access to all these different devices and have a way to control them, you’ve also got the added benefit of being able to talk to people all the way across the house without having to yell. You could even use the system at work to check on your child, spouse, or ageing parents.

Of course, these are just some of the possibilities out there right now that you could have installed in your home. Add in all the different smart products and appliances you could buy and you’ll probably never need to leave your bed again! Remember, these products don’t just make things easier for us either, they also help us save money through decreased insurance rates, and better protection. Be smart and start making your home a smart home.

What exactly are sensors? What do they do and how do they help? Well, sensors are objects which detect events or changes in its environment. It sends this information to the computer and then tells the output device to provide the corresponding output. In other words, it changes real world data into information to be used elsewhere. As for specifics, you’d have to look at specific sensors because each one does something different. There are:
Machine Vision/Optical Light Sensors — These tend to be cameras of some sort or another and can be used for anything from detecting edges to light levels to geographical locations. Think of 3D printers for this one or even just your webcam.

Position/Presence/Proximity Sensors — They’re able to detect nearby objects without any physical contact. They’re good for systems where you might need to avoid colliding with things you can’t see or, in the future technology arena, 3D screens.

Motion/Velocity/Displacement Sensors — These work in a similar fashion to proximity sensors, but instead of focusing on whether something is close, it focuses on how quickly it’s getting closer or farther away. These are used in anything from radar guns that police use to security systems.
Temperature Sensors — Temperature sensors are pretty straightforward. They measure the temperature around them and relay that information. Think thermometer.

Humidity/Moisture Sensors — Another straightforward type of sensor, they measure the amount of water something has in it. These can be used in many agricultural projects from soil to air, or can be used in more industrialised places to determine and other problems.

Acoustic/Sound/Vibration Sensors — These work very similarly to the above motion and proximity sensors, but instead of focusing on objects, they focus on the level to which something vibrates, vibrations per second (loudness and pitch) and can be used to create images of something based on these vibrations. These can be used in ultrasounds or, well, ears.

Chemical/Gas Sensors — Gas and Chemical sensors can measure concentrations of various chemicals and gasses. They’re best used anywhere using dangerous chemicals, including carbon monoxide sensors or anything else.

Flow Sensors — These determine the flow rate of water, air, or any other liquids or gasses that might flow. They’re great for engines, water conservation systems, and anything else with delicate systems focusing on conservation or efficiency.

Force/Load/Torque/Strain/Pressure Sensors — These sensors tend to measure compression and tension. They can be used very effectively in systems with rotating parts like an engine, motor, or turbine, and are commonly found in hand tools as well.

Leak/Level Sensors — Another very straightforward type of sensor. These find leaks in systems from any number of means whether it be floats or electrosonic level transmitters. To be frank, they’re used to determine whether there is a leak somewhere.

Electric/Magnetic Sensors — These sensors are different from most in that they determine changes in the magnetic or electrical field that has been created or modified and from that, determines direction, presence, rotation, and other variables. They can be used in various applications from traffic control signals to security-devices used by the military.

Acceleration/Tilt Sensors — These are used to help determine direction and speed. They can be used in things that need to move around in the physical world like robots or cars.

As you can see, there is a huge amount of variation in sensors that you might not have even realised. In the same way that a car doesn’t need arms, a lot of devices don’t need a lot of these sensors because, frankly, some information is just useless. My coffee maker doesn’t need to know how fast I’m approaching it, but it absolutely needs to be able to determine the temperature of the liquid, whether it’s running out of water or even leaking.
Determining what sensor each device needs is crucial to obtaining efficient and cost-effective products. In the Internet of Things, that’s no different, so before you start grabbing up every sensor known to man, do a little research and figure out just what it is you’ll need.

If you’ve come here to read about the Internet of Things (IoT) before, I’d wager you’ve heard a fair deal about it already and what it can do. There are endless possibilities out there right now and endless applications for what could be, but notice that’s the majority of what you’ll hear — possibility.

As of right now, the IoT is mostly just hype, as it has been for the past few years. We don’t have roads connected with our vehicles. We don’t have our alarm clocks talking to our coffee makers or our oven talking to our microwave. We don’t have many commercial applications at all, actually. What we do have is pockets of IoT with both commercial and business applications around our world.

So, is all this just hopeful thinking? Are we fooling ourselves with thinking of how important this will be in the future? I’d have to say absolutely not. The fact is that at this very moment, we’re mostly in the investing and developing stage. Hundreds of companies out there are extremely interested in putting this future technology to use to help with productivity and, as the technology becomes more secure and is developed further, we’ll start to see more and more commercial, everyday products with the IoT incorporated into them.

To put it into more recent terms, look at computers. We started with all computers being basically the same. They functioned for a small set of purposes. They were big, expensive, and didn’t have any real use for the average consumer. Time passed though and they started to become more diverse, from different looks and different functions to entirely different operating systems.

The world changed around the computer as it got smaller, faster, and began having uses for more than just big companies and the military. The average consumer now started having a reason to buy and it only spurred the technology on more. After that, things really took off and, rather than one computer per household, we’re all sitting here with our phones in hand, tablets in our bags, and laptops right beside them. We’ve got a multitude of computers with a diverse range of functions and the same will be true of the IoT in time.

With time comes change, and the change that we’re going to be seeing in the next few years will be, as always, faster, smaller, and more diverse. As it stands, we’re currently in the early years of the IoT. The hype is real and it’s all around us of what is possible and what we can and will be doing in just a few years time. We’re entering a world of interconnected devices — smart homes, efficient building, connected infrastructure, and more.

Assuming you’ve not been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard about how tens of millions of websites went down in mid-October. Among these sites include Twitter, Spotify, and Reddit; even Playstation Network was down for a time. Unfortunately, the Internet of Things was the tool that made this attack possible.

So, how did this one attack affect so many different websites all at once, you ask? Well, because the attack wasn’t on a website at all but on Dyn, a DNS service. Think of it as an electronic phone book roughly the size of a building where, instead of phone numbers, we’ve got our web addresses stored there. When this phone book was bombarded by millions of queries through a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, it crashed.

Now, any normal DDoS wouldn’t have done much to Dyn. They’ve got servers galore in countries across the globe. This wasn’t a normal attack though and they hit all the servers at once. Just a couple hours after the first attack, a second came, and then a third. Taking responsibility for these attacks was the well known group Anonymous alongside New World Hackers as retaliation for Ecuador taking internet access away from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Where does the IoT come into all this? Well, there’s a malware out there called Mirai which searches the Internet for IoT devices still protected by their factory default usernames and passwords, which is most. Once the hackers had access to these devices, they set their sights on Dyn to ping it constantly for information with people none the wiser that their printers, cameras, or even baby monitors were being used in such a way.

There’s a delicate balance in the Internet of Things (IoT) between machine and sensors. On the one hand, you have the practical application. Machines produce results. They have an action, whether it be to process your information and give you a train ticket, change from red to yellow to green on a timer, or to read this very article.

Sensors, on the other hand, are the eyes and ears of that machine. In the same way that we see, hear, taste, and feel, sensors gather data on their surroundings. Imagine trying to do something without any of your senses. Imagine an existence without sight, smell, touch, taste, or hearing. Nearly lifeless, right? You’d still be able to do things, but you’d be severely crippled in your decision making process. In that same way that we rely on our senses to make decisions, machines rely on their sensors, and that is all the more true in the IoT.

Now, back to that balance I mentioned. Within the IoT, that balance is crucial. All the sensors in the world won’t mean a thing without a machine to process, analyse, and determine a course of action. It’d be raw data without anywhere to go. A bunch of ones and zeroes fed right into your trash bin. It’s a waste.

On that same line, the IoT would be rendered worthless without sensors. In fact, it simply wouldn’t exist. The best example I can give is a stoplight. Before the IoT, they worked on a timer. It was a good way to make crowded intersections work better, but I think you know that it’s not at all efficient. Add in some sensors to it, the car, the road, etc. and you’ve got a stoplight able to determine high and low traffic flow and adjust itself according to where the traffic is coming from and going to. In real time, the road would transmit data of a crash to likely detour routes of nearby streets, giving those lights a better, more efficient function as they update. Without sensors, you go back to a machine that is little more than a glorified light-up timepiece.

There is a third component I should add to this, equally as important but not quite as tangible — the Cloud. It’s what enables the IoT to work at all. The Cloud’s ability to transmit and interpret data in real time from one device to another is exactly what is required for multiple devices connected through each other.

I think you can start seeing how important this balance is now. The sensors gather the data, transmit it through the Cloud, where it’s put to an application by the machine. Any failing between sensor and machine and you’ve got an inefficient or potentially even broken device.

Imagine waking up promptly at 7:00 from your alarm. Your coffee is brewing and starting to fill the air as you go hop in the shower. You come back, cup already made and sugar added. That is perhaps the most basic consumer application that the Internet of Things (IoT) is able to make a possibility. Your alarm is connected to your coffee maker and when you set your alarm, your coffee maker knows to be ready with a nice hot cup 10 minutes later.

Next, let’s get a bit more advanced. Your car is now connected to your alarm system and is able to access the internet and know the temperature. It’s a chilling 4°C. You open your garage door, your alarm system recognizes this and sends a signal to your car. Your car, in turn, starts up and sets the heat going because it’s cold. Your garage door notices your car is on and within ten feet and up goes your door. All you had to do was walk out a door and suddenly everything is already ready for you to get going. Sure, this saves only about 30 seconds, but that’s just one example of just how connected things are able to become.

Now what about some real world, current uses. The first ever use of the Internet of Things was a coke machine at the Carnegie Mellon University in 1982. It was able to both report its inventory and whether newly loaded drinks were cold or not. Since then, the IoT has spread rapidly. We can now find it in loads of manufacturing, transportation, and monitoring technologies. Perhaps the biggest use of this though is in city infrastructure where variables constantly change on a second-by-second basis.

Not everything is perfect in this system though. With more devices connected, you’ve got more threats to your security. In theory, all someone would have to do is find the weak link in the chain to make it all come tumbling down. The IoT works better and better when more devices are connected, but it also makes it harder to secure. The potential for the IoT is amazing and probably the biggest leap in technology since we invented the internet, however, matching security with ease of use is not going to be simple.

We are living in an information age and the Internet of Things is the newest child of that age. It exists to give real-time data faster and easier than anything else. It’s not just the future, but the world we live in even now and it’s only just begun. 10 years from now, we might really be waking up with a fresh brewed cup just waiting for us.